A few weeks ago Polistra wrote a long piece on the decline of small towns.

This picture on Shorpy.com illustrates the point perfectly. Yes, we still have county fairs, and we still have County Demonstration Agents or Extension Agents. But they don't matter now.

These Vigo County girls mattered, and their preserves were worth the effort of displaying artistically. (And undoubtedly worth the effort of eating reverently. Yum!) And Miriam Retherford mattered. Her artistic calligraphy and artistic arrangement helped to preserve the whole event for posterity.

In a globalized and televised world there are no small ponds. Your efforts don't matter unless you can make a big enough splash to move the ocean. Quality, slapdash, all the same. No point in preserving, no point in artistry, because your job will be handed to a fucking Chinaman tomorrow.

About Me

Polistra was named after the original townsite of Manhattan (the one in Kansas). When I was growing up in Manhattan, I spent a lot of time exploring by foot, bike, and car. I discovered the ruins of an old mill along Wildcat Creek, and decided (inaccurately) that it was the remains of the original site of Polistra. Accurate or not, I've always liked the name, with its echoes of Poland (an under-appreciated friend of freedom) and stars. ==== The title icon is explained here. ==== Switchover: This 2007 entry marks a sharp change in worldview from neocon to pure populist. ===== The long illustrated story of Polistra's Dream is a time-travel fable, attempting to answer the dangerous revision of New Deal history propagated by Amity Shlaes. The Dream has 8 episodes, linked in a chain from the first. This entry explains the Shlaes connection.